HAUNTING PAST

“What're you doing back here?” Minseok inquired.

He was standing in the open doorway of Sunhee's office, arms folded and brows dipped low in confusion. Sunhee leaned back in her chair as she tapped her pen against a stack of receipts that she was going through (that were actually Junmyeon's job but she needed the excuse and distraction).

“Finishing some work up,” she replied coolly.

Minseok scrunched up his face, not buying her half lie. “It's ten to eleven, paperwork can wait until tomorrow, besides you took today off specifically for Minhwan.”

“He's one, he won't know I went back to work after he went to bed,” she countered.

He stepped into her office, eyes locked on her face as he crossed the room, dodging the toys that were scattered about for Minhwan when he came to work with her. He perched on the edge of the desk to her right, staring down at her with a hard gaze that felt like he was looking through her. Sunhee looked away to her work with a lump forming in .

“Why are you here so late?” he questioned gently.

“Why are you?” she challenged back with an anxious squeak.

“Working on my personal vehicle like you said I could after hours,” he answered. “Now,” he said leaning towards her with his arms still crossed. “Why are you here Boss?”

Sunhee fidgeted in her seat as she tried to force the lump down so she could speak normally. But the more she thought about why the bigger the blockage got and the more the tears from earlier wanted to come out and rat her out.

Jongdae's parents were lovely people she learned, sweet and cheery just like their son. Yet Sunhee couldn't enjoy the encounter, not with being called Taehee by both Mr. and Mrs. Kim but also Jongdae, who she thought would never do that to her. The grandparents stayed for dinner, played with Minhwan and gave him a present that was a onesie set that made him look like an adorable dinosaur. The night was okay, but once the older couple left and Jongdae went to put Minhwan to bed Sunhee took off saying she had work to do. Jongdae tried to get her to stay – maybe even talk – but she just didn't have the emotional strength to do so.

Lowering her head even more Sunhee tried to stop the tears, but a sniffle broke through and her chin twitched, a sign it was too late. “Did,” she started weakly, the word coming out in a huffed hiccup, as her hands fiddled in her lap. “Did Junmyeon ever tell you guys why I was in America?” she asked as the hot tears trickled down her cheeks, plopping onto her arms and legs.

“Not really, just said it was family business,” Minseok said.

Sunhee snorted humorlessly as she shook her head, dislodging more drops onto her lap. “I guess you could say that, but there was no business, no family. It was just me, but I wasn't even me.”

“I don't understand,” he said gently.

She sniffled again as the tears fell faster and her breathing accelerated. She was trying so hard not to sob and cry. “Taehee hit some girl with her car while drunk,” she stated and she felt Minseok grow tense. “The girl is fine now, just some bumps and a broken arm,” she assured. Taking a shaking deep breath she settled in to tell him the whole tale. “As most accidents are – giant messes – my parents wanted to take care of it outside of the courts so it wouldn't ruin Taehee's future. The girl's parents agreed to a paid sum and that the driver goes for proper counseling, they were highly religious. So Choi Taehee was shipped off to America to take part in a special rehab program.”

“But –”

Sunhee finally glanced up with a tear stained face and a broken smile cutting Minseok off. “Not even twins, but people still can't seem to tell us apart; not airport security, not her in-laws, sometimes not even our own parents.”

“Sunhee,” he began softly, cautiously.

“Yes I'm Sunhee, but for two years – two long, hard years – I was Taehee. I answered to Taehee. I spoke as Taehee. I was Taehee and I hated it!” she cried gruffly. Her hands clamped together as a jagged sob tore out of her, body shaking from the force. “Coming home meant I-I got to be Sunhee again. Th-That I was done pretending and cleaning up after her mistakes, but, but – No! She runs off to god-knows-where leaving Jongdae oppa and Minhwan, sweet, sweet Minhwan behind. Why? When does it stop being about Taehee? When can I live for Sunhee?”

She broke down after that. Her hands covering her face as sob after sob left her while all Minseok could do was pat her head and shoulder, awkwardly consoling her. During her fit Sunhee thought she heard him speak, but what she heard had to have been a figment of her desperate imagination.

“Their whole relationship was based on you, you know.”

Even if it was true, whatever it meant, it would only hurt now, so Sunhee pretended it wasn't real, that Minseok didn't actually say anything that night.

After Minhwan's birthday Sunhe